Solar Cells Info

DUBLIN, Ireland, Dec 12, 2007
Source: BUSINESS WIRE press release

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c77155) has announced the addition of Global & China Solar Polysilicon Industry Chain Report, 2007 to their offering. Polysilicon is the base for global electronic industry and PV industry, and 100% of the semiconductor chip and 95% of solar battery chips are made of silicon (including the silicon and polysilicon). The polysilicon is divided into two grades by silicon content, one is solar grade silicon (SG) with the silicon content of 99.9999%, which is mainly used for the production and manufacturing of the solar battery chip; the other is electronic grade silicon (EG) with the silicon content of 99.999999999%, which is used for the manufacturing of semiconductor chips.
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Solar Power, Inc. to Design and Install Photovoltaic Systems for Multiple Locations Across California
ROSEVILLE, CA,   December 10, 2007
Source. Businesswire
http://www.businesswire.com/

Solar Power, Inc. (“SPI”) (OTCBB:SOPW) has entered into an agreement with Solar Power Partners, Inc. a California-based renewable energy company specializing in Power Purchase Agreements (“PPAs”) as a vehicle for financing commercial installations of large-scale photovoltaic (“PV”) solar electric energy systems. “Our agreement with Solar Power Partners, Inc. and the systems we will be designing and installing for their customer are significant for a number of reasons,” said Steve Kircher, CEO of SPI. “Solar Power Partners’ customer is a major national retailer that has successfully tested and is now converting its retail facilities to photovoltaic solar electricity. It demonstrates the growing adoption of PV solar systems by businesses as a means to contain operating expenses in the face of rising energy costs.”
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Prenzlau/Oldenburg, Germany, 13 Dec 2007
source: PressPortal.de press release
http://www.presseportal.de/pm/56282/1102055/aleo_solar_ag

Aleo solar AG can already report firm orders for 2008 in Germany of more than EUR 25 million. The relevant contracts for aleo modules were signed with a number of dealers, fitters and solar technology specialists in December and will take effect in 2008.  Business is booming according to Norbert Schlesiger, Sales Manager for Germany. “There is strong demand for our premium modules, especially on the German market for roof-mounted installations. This is a very good start to 2008 for us. New orders for system components such as inverters and mounting systems are also up sharply”, he said.
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Energy savings will allow for more food to feed area hungry
Washihngton, Dec. 12, 2007
Source: BP America /PRNews press release
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/071212/nyw068.html?.v=101

BP America and the Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) today announced a $1 million donation of BP Solar panels and other equipment that will make CAFB’s proposed new facility a local showcase of the latest solar technology. The solar system, which will be capable of generating 121.8 kW of clean electricity, will save more than 20 percent of CAFB’s annual electricity bill.  The CAFB is the largest public nonprofit, hunger and nutrition education resource in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. Each year, the CAFB distributes 20 million pounds of food, including 6 million pounds of fresh produce through more than 700 member agencies. The energy saved by the solar installation will not only reduce the environmental footprint of the building, but also will result in economic savings that can be used to secure more food to feed the area’s hungry.
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by Katharine Grayson Staff Writer, December 10, 2007
Source: Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal
http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2007/12/10/daily9.html?surround=lfn

The city of Minneapolis will receive a $2 million grant to build an array of 3,000 solar panels atop the roof of a public-works building. The solar array will be the largest of its kind built in an urban area in the Upper Midwest, the city said Monday in a press statement. Funding for the project will come from the Xcel Energy Renewable Development Fund.
The city said the solar array might help it expand its fleet of 28 plug-in hybrid vehicles. In May, Minneapolis-based Xcel (NYSE: XEL) announced it would put up to $23 million toward renewable-energy projects. The state requires that the utility set aside $16 million for its renewable-energy fund. The city already has three solar arrays up and running.

By Matt Nauman, Mercury News, Nov 14, 2007
Source: MercuryNews.com
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7462532?nclick_check=1

Low-income homeowners in California might soon have access to a $108 million fund to put solar panels on their roofs, but an advocacy group for the poor questions the effectiveness of a program that doesn’t pay for all the cost of the installations. The issue comes up for a vote at the Friday meeting of the state’s Public Utilities Commission in San Francisco.  The program, part of California’s Solar Initiative, will provide full subsidies for one kilowatt solar-energy systems to single-family, owner-occupied households that qualify as “extremely” or “very low income” – those making up to 50 percent of an area’s median income. A PUC spokeswoman said this could range from $25,750 for a four-person household in Fresno County to $56,550 for the same size household in San Francisco County.
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New Orleans, LA – December 11, 2007
Source: GE Energy / press release
http://www.gepower.com/about/press/en/2007_press/121107a.htm

GE Energy will provide 200-watt solar modules to IBERDROLA INGENIERÍA Y CONSTRUCCIÓN, one of Spain’s largest energy engineering companies, for projects that will add 11.6 megawatts of solar capacity for the country’s electricity grid by the end of the year. As the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor, IBERDROLA INGENIERÍA Y CONSTRUCCIÓN plans to install the GE modules in ground-mounted arrays for several projects around the Extremadura Autonomous community of western Spain. IBERDROLA INGENIERÍA Y CONSTRUCCIÓN also utilized the services of the Spanish Energy and Environmental Research Center (CIEMAT), which conducted tests on the panels.
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Atlanta, GA. – November 28, 2007
Source: GE Energy.com / press release
http://www.gepower.com/about/press/en/2007_press/112807a.htm

GE Energy has supplied 363 roof-mounted solar panels at the top of 45 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City that will help generate electricity for the first solar powered Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. The Christmas tree is decorated with 30,000 new energy-efficient LED lights, on five miles of wire, which will help illuminate Rockefeller Center with a cleaner source of holiday power.
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Dayville, Conn., Dec. 11. 2007
Source; CNN Money.com /PRNewswire
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/NYTU06711122007-1.htm

United Natural Foods, Inc. along with Solar Works, Inc., the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund and several Connecticut politicians, are scheduled to dedicate the installation of the largest solar electric system in New England on December 13, 2007. The 550-kilowatt STC solar photovoltaic system, installed at UNFI’s natural foods distribution facility in Dayville, Conn., is expected to generate approximately 600,000 kilowatt hours of clean energy annually, enough to power more than 67 average New England homes for one year. The system output will avoid over 14 million pounds (over 6,350 metric tons) of carbon dioxide over the 25-year life of the system. (more…)

Charles Burress, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer /December 11, 2007
Source: SFGate,com
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/11/BABGTRMNM.DTL

Companies and homeowners who pay to install solar panels in San Francisco could save over 50 percent with help from an ambitious subsidy program, according to city officials who will announce the plan Tuesday. Some experts say the effort is groundbreaking and, if implemented, could be the nation’s biggest such program. The proposed subsidy would be $3,000 and $5,000 per residence and up to $10,000 for businesses. City officials are also proposing a low-interest financing program that would allow residents to incrementally pay back money borrowed for solar installations at below-market rates, possibly via charges on their property tax bills. (more…)